Behind the Balance Sheet

Barry Ritholtz hosts Bloomberg’s Masters in Business, one of the most popular business podcasts in the world. He rather modestly says he was one of the first. Ritholtz not only has managed to interview investing heroes like Ed Thorpe, Ray Dalio (twice) and Michael Lewis (four times) but also has built a $3bn wealth manager in just ten years.  In this interview, Barry explains why financial TV is irrelevant, why the F.I.R.E. contingent (Financial Independence, Retire Early) have it wrong, why 70:30 should be the new 60:40, why investors should think in decades, how he can call Mike Bloomberg “dude” and not get fired, and what it’s like to have broadcast over 450 shows with some of the greats and some misses.  See the ⁠website⁠ for full show notes.

Carson Block is one of the world’s top short sellers, and one of few still managing a specialist fund. In this interview, Carson explains the business of short selling; the difference between fundamental shorting and his business of shorting and exposing frauds; how he spots these fraudulent companies; where to find frauds; and why it takes Muddy Waters 3 months to launch a short campaign. We discuss the economics of a short fund, why short selling is so much more difficult than long only investing and why Europe is a more difficult area to operate in. Full show notes here: https://behindthebalancesheet.com/podcasts-singles/podcast-episode-15

Sir Clive Woodward is a winner. He is best known for managing the England rugby team, taking them from world #6 to a world cup win. In this revealing interview, he explains that there is no difference between managing a sports team, a business or an investment team.  It’s all about managing people. Winning teams are made up of winning individuals - you can persuade the individuals in a team to strive to improve performance and the team will benefit. He is a proponent of continuous learning, and his team members must be teachable. I was fascinated by his management philosophy and investors and business people can learn so much from sport. No detail goes unchecked in his quest for 1% gains - he explains why the team’s second-half performance improved when they changed strips at half-time. You don’t need to be a rugby fan to enjoy and learn from this exposition of what makes a winning team. Full show notes here: https://behindthebalancesheet.com/podcasts-singles/podcast-episode-14

Richard Oldfield is a true value investor. Author of the delightful commonsense investing book, Simple but not easy, in this interview he recites several wonderful anecdotes from his long experience as a value investor. We even get a song (while Steve recites one of Richard's investment poems). Richard has an innate belief in the cyclical nature of markets and the madness of crowds. He is a classic contrarian investor and he came out with numerous gems about how to think in this way. Richard is a truly independent thinker. He doesn’t believe in index funds, likening them to hanging on to the coat-tails of a lunatic. He believes that anyone with some common sense, experience and ability to manage their emotions can outperform the market. Learn why that's achievable for almost anyone, as long as you can master your emotions and why there are few true value investors left. Full show notes here: https://behindthebalancesheet.com/podcasts-singles/podcast-episode-13

Chris Pavese, President and CIO of Broyhill Asset Management, is a seriously thoughtful investor. We talk about how investing straddles left and right brain thinking, about whether the advantage of being located outside the bustling environment of a New York or London will continue to confer the same benefit in the days of Zoom, and about the benefits and joy of reading widely. Chris explains his investment philosophy, why he has fewer than 20 stocks in the portfolio, why the only research he buys is from a short seller (even though he doesn't short), and we discuss the north-south divide in Europe and the US. Full show notes here: https://behindthebalancesheet.com/podcasts-singles/podcast-episode-12

We speak to Dan McCrum, the award winning FT journalist who exposed Wirecard as a fraud. Once a stockmarket darling valued at over €25bn, Wirecard crashed to worthless in June 2020, when its auditors could not confirm €1.9bn of cash. Dan pursued the story for six years and has now written a book about the saga. “Money Men” is an amazing account of how the company used every tactic possible to disguise its activities. This is an extraordinary tale and Dan, a brilliant raconteur, explains the highs and lows of his struggle to reveal the truth. We also speak to market participants on the buy and sell side to get their perspective. Full show notes here: https://behindthebalancesheet.com/podcasts-singles/podcast-episode-11

Former Goldman, Sachs partner, Jim O’Neill (more properly, Baron O’Neill of Gatley), is best known as the man who coined the term BRICs. He correctly identified that this group of emerging markets would drive global growth and published a paper on it over 20 years ago. In this wide discussion, we talk about the BRICs, about why for the first time in 30 years of close study of the country, he is puzzled on Chinese policy, and what inevitably lower Chinese growth means for the global economy. Of course, we discuss his beloved Manchester United, kids’ education, a cause close to both our hearts, and how his involvement in the anti microbial review, leading to the publication of the book Superbugs, was the most interesting work he has ever undertaken. Jim is quite critical of central banks who he thinks are behind the curve and he gives his assessment of the long term outlook for inflation. Listen to the end to learn why he calls himself a spoilt brat. Full show notes here

Russell Napier and Jeremy Hosking discuss how the capital cycle will become an even more important driver of equity returns as we move into an age of financial repression. This series of macro episodes focuses on the changes we should expect in the new era, as we exit a 40-odd year period of falling rates, globalisation, cheap energy and disinflation.  In this fascinating interview, these two giants of the investment world discuss the way forward, covering everything from banks to ESG,  from Tobin’s Q to excessive liquidity, and from the tragic events in Ukraine to the sinking of the Titanic. One theme is constant, however - the capital cycle, and we discuss in detail its mechanics and the reasons why it’s such an effective investment tool. Please make sure to listen to the very end. Russell and I have a postscript discussion, as we wanted to tie some of the loose ends together. We both met with David Einhorn shortly after the podcast and I share some of his interesting perspectives on how to invest to protect capital from inflation. Full show notes here

In this wide-ranging interview, recorded before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chris Wood, Global Head of Equity Strategy at investment bank Jefferies, talks about his route to success, why he is bullish on energy stocks, some of his fun trades (long Ryanair, short Zoom), why he doesn’t use Zoom, how the pandemic has altered his approach and why his multi-million air miles account won’t get built up quite so much going forward. We cover the long-term outlook for the global economy, why the Fed has a straight jacket, and how the world will look in years to come as we move from a regime of falling rates. Spoiler - he doesn’t see a repeat of ‘20/21 in ‘22. Wood’s weekly GREED & Fear publication was a must-not-miss for me – so is this episode. Full show notes here

In this interview, Dylan Grice and Rob Crenian discuss how markets work, how “stupid” investors have been winning of late but will not do so for much longer, how quants think, how real alpha will be more difficult to come by, and how this will likely be found not by being smarter but by doing something different; and they explain how they are seeking to preserve wealth with an unconventional investment strategy at Calderwood Capital. Full show notes here.